Coming at you again from my
usual Saturday morning spot!
It’s a miracle I have
this time to myself to write. If I was home, I would likely be taking advantage
of the extra time to sleep in. But since in China I have to travel so far to get
to work (or anywhere) it’s just easier to get up early and travel in. I’m
hoping when I go back home that I will still have a bit of my early morning
habits that I have had to acquire here. I doubt it, but it would be nice to
take a morning to myself and get stuff done, or write.
It’s weird to know how
much my habits have changed. I’m still the same person, but it’s weird to think
of myself as a successful morning person. Rudely waking myself up at 7:05am
with my alarm and then finally dragging myself out of bed at 7:20am, to be out
the door for 7:50-8am. At home, I struggle to stumble downstairs in time to
watch Live with Kelly at 10am. And for me as a student, my classmates know that
I’ll show up, but it will be RIGHT on time or like 5 mins late. Not a good
habit, but that’s just me and I’m okay with that. I don’t like to rush and when
I feel rushed I get flustered and end up being later, so if I just take my
take, all will be good, I’ll just be 5 minutes late instead of like 20 minutes
late. (I know, easy solution is that I wake up like 10 minutes early, but like
I said, it’s a struggle).
I am definitely a night
owl. Normally I’m more awake by then, I have lots on my mind, and at home, my
schedule is INSANELY busy, so I kind of have to be a night owl. I worked 3 jobs,
taught dance, and took dance classes, on top of going to school full time. I
loved it all though. I also think many beautiful things happen at night time; rather
it be late night conversations, moonlight walks, or movie nights in with your
cat.
Here in China, however,
I’m in bed basically as soon as I get home from teaching which is around 4pm. I
get up to get supper and shower, but then I’m back into bed. Normally, I’ll be
up until 10-11pm watching a show, but this week I have been feeling drained (and
some may say that I have a head cold). So, this past week I have been falling
asleep at 9pm, waking up at 3am ad being wide awake until 5am, falling back
asleep and then having to get up at 7. After 3 nights in a row of that
happening, I am feeling better and think I have broken that chain – thank
goodness.
For those that don’t know
me, I don’t do medicine. Yes, of course if I was dying, I would take something
if I felt it was appropriate. I don’t take advil, etc, any of it. I don’t like
the idea of my body having to rely on that stuff when there are other ways to
heal. My methods take more time, but I feel like it makes me stronger instead
of reliant and dependant. That’s not to say that people who take medicine are
horrible – I don’t believe that – I just know it make my body feel weird and I
choose not to use it for personal reasons. I did come prepared with one thing
that I brought from Canada. This is a medicine I swear by just because when I
was younger it would be the stuff I would take and could feel it working in a
positive way (sounds silly I know, but whatever). Buckley’s (tastes awful, but
it works). Half the bottle is gone and I have got pretty good at taking shots
of it with my flavoured water. Before I break that stuff out though, I swear by
cranberry juice (which I sadly haven’t found out here), mint, green tea,
Gatorade, cat cuddles (sadly, my pets could not make this trip with me), hot
bath (no tub here, so shower has to make do), and extra sleep (not guaranteed
in China thanks to constant construction and lesson planning). So, as you can
see, all my usual methods could not be used and therefore I had to break out
the Buckley’s).
Just some medical
information for you, in case you feel like trying to make a small change in
your health life… 1 bottle of Gatorade does the miracle work of advil for
headaches. Mint helps headaches, releases stress in the muscles, and calms the
stomach. Cranberry juice is a natural cleanser and is really good for females.
A hot bath/shower relaxes the body and the steam lifts away your stresses. A
cat literally heals itself when it is ill or hurt with the vibrations from its
purring so let them rub some of that off on you and just cuddle because they’re
adorable and it will give you great comfort. Sleep is always a must and a lack
of sleep, I believe, is one of the main causes of sickness because your body is
worn down and more open to germs. Green tea does so much it’s insane and
actually counter balances the toxic levels in your body. So there.
Another habit I have
developed, which I find very freeing, but is something I’m really going to have
to watch when I go back home, is my freedom of speech. Since only some people
in China know some English, I more and more have been saying out loud what is
on my mind. It’s really nice to not have to filter myself because I’ve come to
realize that I have done that a lot back home. Not that what I say is bad, but
some comments might seem rude. I think a big part of it is because everyone
hear looks and acts different than I do, so my comments are on that. I’m sure
the Chinese think the exact same thing and are making comments about me that I
can’t understand. I really like speaking what’s on my mind. It has made me a
more carefree person and I’m sure that if I continue this back in Canada that
it will eliminate any confusion in interpreting what I actually mean, etc. I’m
also aware that I will probably butt heads with some people, but I’m ready for
that. I don’t mind confrontation anymore. I may not bring it up, but if it
arises, I will defend my beliefs and actions. I feel like I have had to do that
with my lesson plans more than I would like to. I know the main reason for this
is simply the difference in Canadian and Chinese teaching. But still, I will
not change my teaching methods to become a Chinese teacher, because I’m not and
because you hired me as an English teacher and a part of what comes with that
is my English teaching methods. I will take suggestions, but it especially
sucks when I do what I’m told and then I still get crapped on because you
changed your mind about what you want me to do, but you didn’t tell me so I
couldn’t make those changes in time.
Moral of the story – do what you want
because someone will always have an opinion on what you do, and they will judge.
right on girl!
ReplyDeleteglad you agree!
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